Kansas Ballet's 'Nutcracker' features live orchestra, Russian dancers

Debut production continues traditions established by Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka

Kansas Ballet's debut production of "The Nutcracker" at 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at the Topeka Performing Arts Center, 214 S.E. 8th, will feature guest dancers from Moscow, Victoria Truposkiadi, left, and Nikolai Morschakov, who will dance the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and her consort.

THE NUTCRACKER

When: 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: Topeka Performing Arts Center, 214 S.E. 8th

Tickets: $18 adults, $14 seniors, $10 youths 12 and younger or $50 family four-pack (two adults, two children) on sale at the TPAC box office or through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com

In its debut production of “The Nutcracker,” the city’s newest ballet company, Kansas Ballet, will maintain a long-standing Topeka tradition of presenting the holiday classic accompanied by a live orchestra and choir and professional guest artists in the starring roles.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday at the Topeka Performing Arts Center, 214 S.E. 8th. Ticket prices, exclusive of taxes or fees, are $18 for adults, $14 for seniors, $10 for youths 12 and younger or $50 for a family four-pack of two adult and two child tickets.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at the TPAC box office or though Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or (866) 448-7849 (automated), online at www.ticketmaster.com or the ticket service’s retail outlets.

The now-defunct Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka established the “pro-am” approach to staging “The Nutcracker” more than 25 years ago, and Stephanie Heston, who along with her husband, Alexander Smirnov, direct the Kansas Ballet, adopted it when they took over the MBT’s last production of “The Nutcracker” a year ago following the retirement of its founding director, June Landrith.

The couple, who each danced professionally around the world, chose to maintain the approach for both professional and deeply personal reasons.

“As a young girl growing up in Topeka, my experiences watching world-class artists perform and having the unbelievable opportunity to dance alongside them was a life-altering experience for me,” said Heston, who was a Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka company member through high school, then returned after becoming a professional ballerina to dance as a guest artist.

“I am thrilled to be able to continue this tradition, not only for my students, but also for our community at large,” she added. “Topeka deserves the kind of high-quality classical ballet performances and education one finds in other capital cities around the world, and Alexander and I are passionate about making that a reality.”

St. Louis-based conductor Leon Burke III again will conduct an orchestra as it plays the Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky score of the holiday fantasy about a young girl, Clara, who given a nutcracker for Christmas dreams of it leading other toys in a battle against rat before transforming into a handsome prince who takes her on an adventure in the Land of Sweets.

Students of the Kansas Ballet Academy, 4745 N.W. Hunter’s Ridge Circle, which is home to 130 dancers ages 3 to adult, will participate in “The Nutcracker,” the cast of which will include other amateur dancers who auditioned for roles

Dancing the star roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and her consort, the Nutcracker Prince, will be two Russian dancers from Moscow, Victoria Truposkiadi and Nikolai Morschakov.

Truposkiadi, a 1999 graduate of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, more commonly known as the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and danced and toured 12 years with the Moscow Classical Ballet before becoming a first soloist with the Natalya Sats Musical Theater, the world’s first professional theater for children and know as the birthplace of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.”

Morschakov graduated with honors from the Saratov State Choreographic Academy in 1995, and was immediately named a soloist for the Grigorovich Ballet. He was elevated to principal dancer in 1999. In 2003, he joined the Sarasota Ballet of Florida as a principal dancer, then in 2005 served as principal dancer, ballet master and a choreographer with Dance Alive National Ballet Company before launching a freelance career.

Smirnov will dance the role of Herr Drosselmeyer, and Kansas Ballet Academy guest faculty member Courtney Collado will dance the lead Arabian role.